1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

2.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.      

2.1     At the Licensing Committee on 19^th November 2020, as part of the review of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, there was also a discussion around the policy on the usable life span of all licensed vehicles but with specific discussion around private hire vehicles.

2.2     Under Paragraph 4.3 and Appendix 5 (c) of the Policy, private hire vehicles should normally be replaced when they reach their 6 year anniversary.

2.3     Because of the various restrictions in place during the COVID19 pandemic, the Council recognised that vehicles would have been driven far less than in normal times and that the Trade had been particularly affected by the reduction in movement over the entire pandemic period. Licensing Committee recognised that vehicles would have accumulated much less mileage and so a temporary extension of the vehicle age limit would not adversely affect passenger safety.

2.4      A temporary amendment was requested, which was permitted within the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy at page 26 as follows:

10. Departure from the Policy

There may be instances whereby the Council may need to consider applications outside the policy. Where it necessary to depart substantially from this policy, clear and compelling reasons for doing so will be given. Any such decision may be referred to the Licensing Committee.

Licensing Committee agreed the temporary amendment and the wording approved by the Chair and Vice-Chair is as follows:-

“Maidstone Borough Council have agreed for a period of time to extend the years for which vehicles can be licensed, Hackney Carriage vehicles may be licensed until 16 years old and Private Hire Vehicles until 7 years old. This temporary policy change will be kept under review and revert no later than March 2022.”

2.5     This policy change is due to expire at the end of March 2022 and the trade have requested that it be extended further. The Council recognise that the licensed trade are still experiencing financial difficulties with the increased costs for fuel and with the general costs of living, and would request that Licensing Committee agree to extending this temporary policy change a further 6 months until 30^th September 2022.       

3.   AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     In respect of the proposal to make a decision to:

Either:

Refuse to extend the amendment to policy  

Or

Agree to the proposed extension to 30 September 2022.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1     Members are requested to extend the amendment to policy up for a further period up to 30 September 2022, for the following reasons:

(i)          this would support the trade and allow them to recover following the last 2 years of very reduced custom

(ii)         due to the lack of ‘use’ many vehicles will still be in a similar condition as they would have been at the younger age

(iii)       due to current rates of inflation and escalating fuel prices it is also timely to allow this extension so as to not require owners to have to purchase new/replacement cars at this time.

5.       RISK

5.1    Failure to introduce the proposed extension to assist the trade could result in a shortfall of Maidstone licensed drivers / vehicles. This could see an increase in out of town drivers being in Maidstone illegally cashing in on the employment gap and ultimately causing enforcement issues for the Licensing Department.

6.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

6.1     N/A

7.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

7.1     Should Members approve the proposed extension by the trade it will be communicated to them.

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy:

Maidstone Borough Council Taxi Licensing Policy 2021